Tbh I had this problem when sims was open world game because I was used to ts2 and 1 way and I was delighted when ts4 again focused on lots instead of whole world that was mega overwhelming and distracting to me in ts3 and i kept feeling so disconnected to everything in the game
one thing you can do to sort of feel more like its open world however is to build multipurpose lots in ts4 so you don't have to actually leave lot so often and you can take whole family with you when theres something for everyone to do